Preparation and study of magnetic nanowires

We have successfully prepared anodic alumina templates with various pore size (20 - 100 nm) and used them for synthesizing nanowires. Ni, Co, Co-Pt and Permalloy arrays of nanowires were prepared by electrodeposition technique. Direction of magnetic easy axis and other magnetic properties were found to depend strongly on the dimension of the nanowires as well as the magnetostatic interactions among them. Alpha-particle irradiation was proved to be a useful method to change the magnetic properties of the nanowires. Effect of quantum confinement on the optical and magnetic properties of Pr-Cr co-doped Bismuth Ferrite Nanowires was studied in details. Wide band gap semiconductors such as ZnO, SnO₂ nanowires were found to exhibit magnetic properties. Influence of Li-N and Li-F co-doping on defect-induced intrinsic ferromagnetic and photoluminescence properties of arrays of ZnO nanowires was also investigated. (author)